Prehistoric Park Returned From Extinction Episode 23:Rise of the Mammals
There is something missing from our world. The amazing creatures that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever? We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marvin plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. His plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance. This time, the team goes back sixty million years to a time just after the extinction of the dinosaurs, to rescue the mammals that conquered the Earth. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park. XXXXXXXX After twenty two successful missions, Prehistoric Park has become a smashing success. From a wooly mammoth, to a pack of Dryptosaurus, and even several species of trilobites, the park is a true extinct sanctuary. Now, however, Nigel wants to turn his attention to a relatively neglected time in history. Yet again at his den, Nigel is staring at a variety of pictures, depicting a giant snake, terror birds, land living crocodiles, and a variety of mammals. "Now, most people tend to believe that after the dinosaurs died out, birds took over the Earth. Walking With Beasts didn't help with that, especially since it portrayed Gastornis as a carnivore, because we wren't sure people would accept it as a seed and nut eating plant eater. Other finds in the Americas, such asTitanoboa and Boverisuchus, have made people assume that reptiles initially dominated during the Cenozoic. The truth, however, is that as soon as dinosaurs were gone, mammals began to fill in the niches they'd left behind. A variety of orders, families, and other grouping of mammals, most now extinct, evolved after the dinosaurs were gone, and among them were the pantodonts and the mesonychids, who ended up becoming the largest herbivores and the most ferocious predators of their time. These are the animals I'm after." Pausing from his speech, Nigel put most of the pictures aside, except for those of a large, grey mammal and a creature that resembles a cross between a lion, a wolf, and a bear. "Among the largest of the pantodonts was Barylambda, which grew to be about as large as a pony. When it was alive, it was the largest animal on Earth that didn't swim, and was all but immune to attack. Still, even it had predators, and among them was Ankalagon. Named after the mightiest of Tolkein's dragons, it was the largest land predator on Earth at the time. Both of these animals would make excellent additions to Prehistoric Park. XXXXXX While Nigel gets the last of the supplies needed for the mission, Tristan and co are busy helping care for one of the park's newest and strangest residents. Carefully, Tristan lowered the raw flesh into the feeding chute. As soon as it disappeared down said chute, he began preparing to force more meat in. Behind him, Aileen, Alice, Aiden and….Terence (?) would pass more meat into the pile Tristan was loading into the exhibit. Occasionally, Terence would deposit the meat onto one of the girls, much to their ire. At one point, Alice attempted to vent her frustration at him by spraying him in the eye with water, only to quickly discover that the tyrannosaur had a powerful backhand. After crawling back to the rest of her team, she simply settled for glaring at the tyrannosaur. Once the last of the meat had been deposited in the exhibit, the team and their saurian companion backed off, allowing the watching resident to enjoy his feast. Once they were far enough away, the male prehistoric dragon began to dig into his feast, and he was swiftly joined by the two females he shared his pen with. Occasionally, the male would use hi breath to sear some of the meat, but he mostly ate it raw. From time to time, he would stop feeding and glare at the tyrannosaur, but eventually, hunger would outweigh aggression, nd he would return to feeding. "Oh mighty team leader, is your plan to eliminate any potential enmity between two super predators working?" heckled a feminine voice. Turning behind themselves, the teen trio and their tyrannosaur companion watched as Pamela pulled up in a large truck, carrying with her a variety of plants, fruits and...empty plots. "Honestly, I have no idea," replied Tristan. "This is a long shot, especially since we have no idea how smart Terence is, but he's docile and capable of learning, so maybe we can end this rivalry before it begins." "You sure his peaceful nature isn't due to brain damage?" "...*Slap*…." "OW! Owowowowow. Jeeze, what gives?" "Don't you even say that, Ms. Poison Ivy." "...Do not call me that." "Then don't say that Terence has brain damage." "Fine. Now can you shove the fruits and veggies I brought into the dragon's aviary. Don't ask questions, just do it." "...Um, okay." The minute the plants entered the cage, the dragons started tearing into them, to the teen's surprise. "Before you ask, I thought dragons might eat large amounts of plants so that they'd be able to generate lots of hydrogen and methane to fly. They do seem to have large bellies, don't they?" "...Yeah, they do...What are the pots for?" "They're my attempts to see if planted dragon seeds can give rise to legendary warriors. So far there have been no successes, despite my efforts to fertilize them with titanosaur waste, tyrannosaur crap, mammoth dung, caseid poop, yesterdays tacos after nature called me-" "WAIT, WHAT?!" "-and even some dragon feces. I guess that part from the Argonautica really was just a myth." "Please tell you washed your hands after...well, you know." "Yes, I did." "Good, because otherwise, I'd need to put you in a hazmat room," snarked Aiden. "Eh, laugh it up, shrim-OW MY PANCREAS!" "Thank you," remarked Tai. Vera nodded as she massaged her left hand. "Was that really necessary?" coughed out a still in pain Pamela. "I can feel the pain in my pancreas, and you didn't even hit it!" "..Ok, maybe I was a little harsh with that. But don't call Aiden a shrimp - we like him." "Then please don't make jokes about hazmat stuff and me." "Then don't leave us an opening." "Fair enough. Now are you guys going to stick around or are you going to the past." "We're going. Bye!" "Goodbye!" XXXXXXXX To rescue the first mammals to dominate the Earth, Nigel and his team will have to travel back sixty million years ago, to what is now New Mexico. There, with the dinosaurs out of the way, mammals mushroomed to gigantic sizes. XXXXXXXX As the team exited the portal, they found themselves in a lush rainforest, not unlike the ones at the park. Overhead, Birds could be heard chirping, while insects flirted through the air. A small mist covered the area, just barely obscuring the surroundings. Nigel could only smile in ecstasy at the scenery. "Most of the world is covered in rainforests at this point in time. These won't disappear until the Eocene, when grass really starts to expand. Even then, it will still take millions of years for savannas and prairies to become common. At this point most mammalian herbivores are browsers, and since there aren't many bushes around here, we'll need to get moving if we want to find our targets." "Actually, I think some animals are coming to us," noted Aiden, who was pointing at a nearby tree. Turning toward it, the group found themselves staring at a group of sheep sized animals, with hides colored a mix of black and white. Some distance away from that group, a pack of jackal sized predators were tearing into the remains of a bird. Briefly, the carnivores stared at their herbivores, before returning to their meal. "Looks like we ran into a group of Phenacodusand...Dissacus, of I remember right," noted Tristan. "Indeed. These aren't our targets, but they are still amazing creatures. Unfortunately, they, like many animals here, don't have any future - though both will have many descendants, their lines will die out by the Oligocene, leaving the stage clear for modern groups to evolve. That lack of descedants, however, makes them excellent targets to rescue. Quickly, the group set up the portal and pulled out some leaves and meat. Aiden, Vera and Nigel began to attract the attention of the Phenacodus, while Tristan and Alive began to bait in the Dissacus. As they neared the portal, the phenacodonts noticed thenapproaching carnivores and charged through the portal. Not interested in hunting, the mesonychids simply ambled in behind them. "Well, two species down-" remarked Alice. "-and at least two to go," finished Vera. XXXXXXXX With their first rescues of the day now back at the park, Nigel and the team are on now on the search for their main targets. All around them, the forest slowly springs to life. The birds were joined by various insects and primitive primates, as well as the occasional frog. All around the underbrush, the group could hear the movement of mammals and lizards plus the occasional large arthropod, all searching the leaf litter for food. "So," began Alice, "this is a world of jungles." "It is," replied Tristan. "...I could enjoy it here." "Me too," intoned Vera. "Mild, warm, full of edible fruits..." "And a couple of days of endless rain," finished Aiden, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "...Never mind. Too much rain for me." Tristan could only smirk at this. "You're no different from the rest of us except Nigel - you're too used to the heat, even if you wine about it. Just a few days in a place with more than a foot of rain a year and you'd be waterlogged." "Guilty as charged. Now, what other kinds of animals can we expect to encounter here, Tristan?" "Well, let's see. First off, most of the herbivores will belong to a group called Condylarths. It includes all phenacodonts, but it all includes the more omnivorous arctocyonids and the dinoceratans, like Uintatherium." "Oh, you mean that weirdo. Well, carry on." "As for carnivores, the main predators at this time are either mesonychids or credonts - early relatives of Hyaenodon. Carnivorans won't appear for a few million years-" "Team, stop." Heeding Nigel's advice, the group looked forward. In front of them were a group of small mammals with long, trunk-like snouts. The tiny creatures were using said snouts to forage through the underbrush, occasionally lifting their heads upwards when they found a tasty morsel. Some were more interested, however, in drinking from a nearby lake, or cleaning a log of insects. If they were unlucky in the searches for long enough, they would hop over to another area, though if one animal poached another's feeding area, it would be charged and forced to run with its tail between its legs. Idly, the group noted that they were better runners than hoppers. "Are those Leptictidium?" questioned Vera. "No, they are not," replied Nigel. "This is Leptictis, a close cousin. These creatures might be close to their European cousins, but they're runners, not hoppers. This group must be exploiting the early morning to forage before predators start to wake up." "Okay. Can we rescue them?" "We are in an alternate but parallel timeline to our own, so we can rescue any animal we want to. Even if we couldn't, though, we could still rescue these beautiful creatures, as their family disappeared without a trace in the Oligocene. Maybe they couldn't deal with the new predators, maybe they couldn't adapt to more open environments, but whatever the cause, they went extinct and left no descendants." "Well, then what are we waiting for?" questioned Tristan. XXXXXXX Above the humans, the carnivore watched as they began to set up the portal. It had been staring them for some time, wondering what the new arrivals would do. It had been stalking the long snouts for some time when the bipeds showed up. The minute it had smelled them, many conflicting instincts had run through its head - they smelled like plesiadapids, and its first instinct toward those was to attack, yet their size made it more inclined to ignore them, lest it get involved in a fight it could not win. Ultimately, it had decided to simply wait and see what they would do. Perhaps they would attack the long snouts, and give it an opening to strike? If that happened, they might prove to be an unexpected boon. Of course, there were other problems it had to deal with due to waiting. When it had first arrived, it was the only member of its kind to be stalking the long snouts. Now, it had been joined by five more of its kind. While the shear number of long snouts who had been attracted here by a combination of termites, ants, and insects attracted to tree sap, things were still getting crowded. Despite the seeming simplicity of it, though, the carnivores did not dare to attack the long snouts by the lake - they had managed to secure protection for themselves that not even these climbers could overcome. XXXXXXXX Back at the park, Elise is helping out Ted. Cautiously, Elise moved the sheet across the rough skin, using the edge to remove he various parasites from the giant's body. Nearby, remoras worked overtime to clean off their host. Above all of the, Ted was busy making sure the megalodon would not bite. "I don't know why, but this female's gotten infested by parasites. We've been scrubbing her since Nigel left, but still, she needs a lot more cleaning before she's ready to go." Beside him, a trilobite moved onto the shark's skin and began to nibble at the tiny parasites, eager to fill its belly. Ted could only smile at this sight. "HOnestly, I never actually expected it to be possible to use trilobites to clean off such a big shark, but I can't complain. They're really saving us time." Suddenly, a frigate bird descended onto the shark and tried to snap up the arthropod cleaner, only to swiftly receive a punch from Ted. Dazed, it flew away, leaving the three lobed invertebrate free to continue its work. It seems that some species do not get the park's motto. XXXXXXX Back in the past, the team is putting their plan into action. With the portal set up and whirring, the team placed their bait: a group of crickets, which, in turn, were baited toward the portal by carrots and other plants the group had placed on the other side. The smell carried through the portal, and all of the insects marched toward it, along with several hissing roaches that the team had brought as additional bait. At first, the leptictids were wary of the portal, but upon seeing the insects, hunger tempered the caution, and the tiny mammals began to amble toward the hole in time. Soon, all but the ones that were picking clean the log had passed into the present. Suddenly, a creaking noise turned the group's attention toward a nearby tree. There, several weasel sized mammals were making their way down the trunk, toward the portal. Though they occasionally hissed at each other, they never fought, nor did they break out into a run. Instead, they merely ambled toward the present. "...Are those civets?" questioned Aiden. "Look more like martens to me," replied Alice. Tristan, however, knew exactly what they were looking at. "Actually, those are Miacis. These tiny creatures are different from the animals we've seen so far." Vera merely creaked an eyebrow at her friend. "How?" "These guys do have a future. Believe it or not, but their line will give rise to all modern carnivorans." These individuals, however, would not be on the line to modern carnivores, for they were already on their way into the portal. "Well, that was easy. Now how do we get the rest of the leptictids through?" wondered Aiden. "We just have to move the log," was Nigel's response. Nodding, the group readied to lift the log...only to find all of the leptictids already standing on it. One of them promptly made a noise. Then the log started to move... XXXXXX In the present, Bob was buys sorting the last of the new arrivals into their holding pens. He was mentally praising his luck that the miacids had taken so long to enter the portal that he'd had enough time to put the leptictids into their own pen, one that didn't have bars that were far enough apart for the civet-like predators to squeeze into. The mesonycids and phenacodonts were already enjoying the park's room service. Turning toward the portal, Bob wondered if any additional arrives were coming. He got his answer when a large, serpentine, feathery creature began to amble through the portal on its four short but strong limbs. On its back, a group of leptictids were picking away at some bugs, while one of them rested behind the horns on its head. As the creature passed by Bob, he noticed that there was one spot the mammals were avoiding on its back...and on that spot were small, fin-like wings. Bob stared on for a moment, then sighed. Didn't the park have enough literal dragons already? XXXXXXX As the portal closed, the took a moment to take stock of their situation and reflect over what they had seen. "I'm not the only one who just saw a dragon go through the tine portal, right?' asked Tristan. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'm not crazy. So, do you guys want to talk about that?" "No, I'd rather not," replied Alice. "We've got enough to deal with, plus we've already seen dragons, so this isn't really that surprising." "True. Still, who would have thought six limbed dragons are real. How did that even happen?" "Some amazing mutation, that is for sure," noted Nigel. "Six limbed vertebrates are rare in nature, especially since normally, the extra limbs are useless and just serve to impair the animal's ability to survive." "All interesting facts," interjected Vera, "but can we please continue on our mission before the rising sun makes it too hot to continue?" There were no objections to that remark, even if the group was annoyed by her bluntness. With a huff, the team continued on its mission. XXXXXX Back at the park, Ted and Elise are helping the strangest new arrival move into his new home. The cage door opened. A moment later, the reptile emerged and ambled across the ground, before swiftly diving into the lake in its new home. Soon, all that was visible was the beast's head. Sighing, Elise and Ted gave each other the thumbs up. It appeared the new arrival was happy in his new home. "So, we have another dragon," noted Ted. "Indeed we do. First one we got with six limbs, though." "How such an animal can exist is beyond me, but I ain't complaining. This is such an exciting discovery!" "Let's just hope another one of these discoveries doesn't eat our boss, OR my teammates." XXXXXXXXXXX Some ways away, Bob is dealing with the rest of the new arrivals. "Alright, in you go." The Miacis hissed at Bob, but complied with his gesturing and slunk away into its new home. Already, the rest of its kind were exploring, either on the ground or in the trees. Some distance away, the park's phenacodonts, mesonychids, and leptictids were already exploring their new home, looking for food or places to hide. The phenacodonts, in particular, had already returned to foraging on the ground. Bob smiled at this, before going to his truck and driving toward the prehistoric dragon exhibits. In the back of his truck were several rocks, as well as several pieces of...platinum? "Now, according to the leading authorities on dragons - which is really just one man, seeing as we didn't have any evidence that dragons existed until now - dragons breathe fire by igniting flammable gasses using metallic growths in their throats. I think it'd make more sense for them to have organs to ignite the flames with electricity, but this is all we have right now. According to said researcher, dragons caused these growths to expand by ingesting metal in their diet, chief amongst them platinum. So, to make our dragons more at home, we're going to add some extra platinum to their diet. Hopefully, they don't reject it." XXXXXXX Arriving at the first pen, Bob begins to shovel some of the platinum filled rocks into the feeding chute. It is only moments before the male dragon is upon them. Cautiously, he stares at Bob, even releasing a puff of flames to intimidate him. Ultimately, though, it begins to chew on one of the stones, and likes it immensely. Soon, its female companions join it in chewing on the rocks. It appears that Bob's plan is a success. XXXXXXXXXXXX Back in Prehistoric New Mexico, Nigel and his team are still searching for their targets. Now, though, they have found another interesting creature. As the group climbed over a log, they found themselves watching a group of doglike mammals dig into the ground. Occasionally, one would pull a root out of the ground and start gnawing on it, with fights happening more rarely when choice morsels were unearthed. Nigel couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I've read about these creatures before, they're called taeniodonts. These are burrowers, and some of the largest mammals known to do so. These ones are Psittacotherium." Suddenly, the taeniodonts stopped their rooting and stared at the group. It appeared that Nigel had spoken too loudly. For a moment, the group worried they would bolt, but as the humans refused to attack them, the mammals returned to their rooting. Moments later, a group of racoon sized animals that vaguely resembled ring tails joined them, those these creatures seemed to be more interested in small animals than roots. "I think those are Chriacus," noted Tristan. "They're members of the condylarth group known as arctocyonidae, which literally means bear dogs, even though they aren't true bear dogs. These guys are omnivores. They must be trying to snatch up any animals the taeniodonts unearth." Like most animals in this forest, these two unique species will die off when the forests disappear, unable to compete on the open plains with new and better animals. But while their lineages may go extinct, these particular animals may yet have a chance at survival. It took the team only moments to set up the portal, but as they readied to coax in the animals, another species appeared. These new arrivals were each about the size of a dog, and had some very intimidating chompers. Alice looked up at them and lost a touch of color for a moment, realizing exactly what they were looking at. "Tristan, you said the Chriacus were arctocyonids, right?" "Yeah, so why is that important...oh." "Yeah. I think we're looking at the animal the group got its name from. Do you think they might eat some of our other targets? I mean, they are bigger than some of them and are carnivores." "Well-" It was at that moment that one of the taeniodonts saw the Arctocyon mob. It froze for a moment, before letting out a shriek and darting through the portal, as it was located at the only other opening out of the clearing. A moment later, its fellow taeniodonts and the Chriacus darted through, with the larger arctocyonids following at a moderate trot. "...well, there go the bigger fish." XXXXXXXXX Onwards the team trekked, determined to find their targets. All around them, the forest had fully awakened. Mammals and lizards scurried through the trees, while insects scuttled through the underbrush. Occasionally, they would hear the call of a bird or mammal, but none revealed themselves, leaving the team feeling oddly alone in this ancient forest. The younger members took this as an excuse to chat. "So Tristan, what else do you think we might encounter now that dragons have been proven real?" "Why are you asking, Alice?" "Because we've encountered a creature thought impossible, now maybe we can see even more impossible things." "Such as?" "Well, do you think we could save any animals from the movies? Like King Kong? Or Godzilla?" "Or the Indominus rex?" offered Vera. That last comment practically made Tristan balk. "Why the HELL would you want to rescue the Indominus? That THING is psychotic! And I really don't think rescuing either of those daikaiju would be a remotely good idea. Also, those creatures are definitely not real." "Well, maybe a time portal could take us to an alternate universe where they are real?" "I doubt that, but I'll keep it into consideration. And before you ask, I'd like to rescue the Brachiosaurus from Isla Nublar." "...Oh, that one. Yeah, me too. Me too." Before the conversation could continue, a rustling in the trees turned the group's attention skywards. At first, they could see nothing within the canopy, but eventually, a group of monkey like animals emerged from the branches. To some degree, the creatures resembled squirrels, but they also clearly had traits associated with basal primates, with faces similar to both lemurs and tarsiers. "So, we're looking at a group of early primates," noted Aiden. "Why is this not a surprise?" "We do have a aberrant amount of luck with finding animals," noted Vera. "If that changes, I'd be surprised." "I believe we're looking at two different species here," observed Nigel. "One appears to be Plesiadapis itself, the other...I think its Elphidotarsius." "What a mouthful," responded Alice, with some annoyance. "So, have primates started eating fruits yet, or do we need to use bugs to bait them toward us?" Beside her, Tristan was already setting up the portal. "They should have made the move to an omnivorous diet by this point. You think they might like pineapples?" "How about mangoes?" was Alice's response, and indeed, she already had one in her hand. She tossed one into the air, managing to impale it against one of the branches. Curious, several of the primates moved toward the fruit, while Alice began to pile a few into the portal. In the canopy, the early primates were starting to tear into the mango, clearly enjoying it. Once the fruit was devoured, and the humans appeared to become distracted, the troop charged into the portal, disappearing one by one until none remained. Just as the group was about to close the portal, a group of Miacis scampered down from the canopy and darted into the present. Seconds behind them were a group of larger mesonychids charged in, though the intimidating factor of their appearances was mitigated when the leader of said group slipped as it charged into the portal, resulting in the group piling into each other as they entered the portal. Nigel was the first to recover from the shock plaguing the group following the amusing sight. "I wonder how Bob is going to deal with all of those?" XXXXXXXXXX On the other side of the portal, Bob is answering that problem. Though he does have help. An enraged howl filled the air, echoing through the holding pens. The mammals that had just arrived through the portal were all cowering as far as possible from the source of the noise. The female Yutyrannus paced through her pen, huffing in anger. She was not happy to be outside of her territory and separated from her mate. The increased heat was only compounding her ire. Scaring the small mammals had calmed her slightly, but she still had a lot of rage to work through. "OI, QUIET DOWN!" Perplexed, the female turned toward the strange sound and found Bob staring at her, annoyance clear on his face. She hissed at him, only to promptly get lightly hosed down. She leapt back in surprise, before snarling and retreating away from the human. The unexpected soaking, however, did manage to calm her, as the water helped to cool her down. Seeing that the female had been pacified, Bob sighed in relief. "She's been like this ever since we pulled her out of her exhibit. I blame the unicorn rhino - he's been busting up the posts separating their pens. I think he also charges them when the she gets to close. We had to move the female down here until the posts are fixed - Suzanne is checking on his mate. He's running a fever." Hopefully, things don't get too problematic. XXXXXXX Elsewhere, some of the park's Triassic residents are meeting the neighbors. The male cynodont crawled out of his burrow. It had taken time, but curiosity had finally overcome caution. Additionally, familiarity with his surroundings had made him more relaxed - no large predators could get to him here. With this peace of mind, he was fine exploring his new home. He ambled over a log, spooking a resting lizard in the process. The skunk hissed at him, before beating a retreat. The male paid the reptile no mond, for he was interested only in dating his thirst. As he passed by some ferns, he noticed a Boreogomphodon browsing on some of the plants. One of his neighbors, the traversodont was a close cousin of his, but she was an herbivore, and this not a competitor for food. In a nearby stump, several Adelobasileus were foraging for grubs, snapping up any they found. Normally used to feeding at night, these synapsids had become more diurnal once it became apparent they were not going to be hunted in the daylight. At last teaching the creek he had been searching for, the Chinleotherium wasted no time quenching his thirst. In the distance, he could make out the shape of a prosauropod, about four hundred meters away, browsing on some leaves. The familiar presence of the giant herbivore was oddly calming to the tiny cynodont. This one wouldn't eat him, though, and it was more likely to sense danger than him, so there was that. A splashing at the opposite bank of the creek pulled the male out of his drinking. Looking up, he watched as a strange looking cynodont emerged from the water and began to devour some mussels. Briefly, it looked at him, sizing him up. Soon, though, it lost interest and returned to feeding. Yet the male could not help but notice how odd this cynodont looked - a long tail, a strangely rounded head (completely unlike a traversodont's), and, oddly enough, webbed feet. When had this one become a swimmer? Eventually, the Didelphodon ate his fill and disappeared into the water once more, leaving the cynodont on his own. XXXXXXXXXX On and on the team marched. The sun had almost reached its zenith, and the tropical weather was beginning to get on their nerves. True, they were used to the heat, but the humidity of the forest was what gave them trouble. Even though they had spent quite a bit of time at the park, with similarly humid conditions, they still weren't used to the humid heat. "How long do you think it will be before we find our targets?" Asked Alice, who had pulled out a fan and started waving it at herself. Tristan merely groaned at her question. "We'll find them when we find them. Now focus." "Of course, glorious leader." "Was the snark necessary?" "Yes." Vera sniggered(1) at her friend's bickering. Tristan seemed to do this with all of his female friends, and tended to bicker more with the girls he was closest to, including his siblings. It had gotten to the point most of his friends thought this was his way of flirting. Now they needed to figure out which girl he liked best. Vera already knew it wasn't her. Besides, she really didn't see anything special in him, or anyone else for that matter. At least at the moment... "You think we might see Gastornis or Diatryma while we're exploring this forest?" interjected Vera, hoping to break her friends' arguing. Alice responded first. "Unlikely - they haven't even evolved yet, and even if they had, they were restricted to the Europe during the Paleocene." "You sure?" questioned Tristan. "We did see a Liliensternus that was temporally and geographically displaced." Alice scowled at his retort. "Quiet, you Trottel." "First I've heard you call me that. What did I do this time?" "Be a jerk." "More so than normal?" "Yes, now stow it-" SQUAWK! Instantly, the group grew still and silent. Before them was a bird not unlike a serima, though noticeably more muscular. Coming in at about a meter in height, it was large, but not superbly so. It had a blue colored head, a brown and white body, and a red throat. Most notable about this creature, though, was its large beak, which was only very large, but also hooked at its ends. Clearly, this was a predator. "...Okay, who mailed the terror bird to North America?" wondered Alice, loud enough that her team could hear her, but the bird could not. Tristan could only shrug in response. "I got nothing on this. Maybe it is an early bathornid?" "Probably," noted Nigel. Then the bird looked at the group. For a moment, both man (and woman) and bird grew rigid, each sizing up the other, waiting to see who would flinch first. Eeventually, the bird decided it did not like the odds before it and began to walk away. The team quickly followed it - an animal unknown to science would be a worthwhile rescue! XXXXXXXX Back at the park, one of the more recent arrivals is exploring his new home. Slinking out of the underbrush, the male Ophiacodon had to squint as the rays of sunlight fell onto his face. When his vision adapted, he took the opportunity to observe his surroundings. One difference from his old home was that the world was less barren. Grass had covered areas that were once vacant except for ferns and the occasional tree. Small, fur covered animals in strange, soft growth scampered across these plant filled fields, eating seeds, the grass, or occasionally, each other. Overhead, fuzzy fliers darted about, occasionally descending to capture one of the small ground dwellers. The sight of such small creatures triggered the predatory instincts of the synapsid. Carefully, it inched its way toward the mammals, taking great care to avoid letting the small creatures know it was watching them. Once it was within range, it struck. A moment later, and it was swallowing one of the tiny creatures, savoring the taste of its blood. The little creature was rather filling, though more would have made for a nice meal. Already, the carnivore was searching for more to eat. As it scanned the horizon, though, it noticed a peculiar sight on the edge of its vision. There, to the north, lay an area that gradually changed from green to white. Confused, the mammal-ancestor ambled toward it, taking care to avoid the horned creatures grazing on the plains, as well as the bipeds caring for them. A momentary shiver halted the Ophiacadon. Confused, it tried to see if the wind was blowing, but it could not sense any change in the air currents. Perplexed, but still curious, it continued onwards, and found that the closer he got to the white stuff, the more often he shivered. YEt he refused to back down until he was at last upon the white stuff. At this point, he could now see that it was powder like, yet also had crystalline traits. Putting his paws on the white stuff, he found it was cold to the touch. After a moment of mental conflict, he took a lick. The stuff was cold, yet refreshing, and seemed to dissolve in his mouth. It was just as he had suspected - the white stuff was snow. But why was there snow in such a warm place? Wasn't snow supposed to come in the winter? A loud trumpeting noise focused the predator on a group of gray colored creatures, who all seemed to be staying away from the snow...well, except for one creature, covered in long fuzz, which was trudging through the snow. All of them had large, blunt teeth, with the one that trudged through the snow having the longest. As they were feeding on the grass, the mammal-ancestor assumed that they were herbivores. Also, the smallest member of the herd was right next to him. It was trying to feel him with its...long...nose? Confused, the Ophiacodon initially refused to react, before trying to nudge the newcomer away. When it refused to take the hint, he pawed at its nose. He got smacked in the face in response. Angered, the reptile screeched at large, grey skinned creature. He regretted doing that. The little animal's response was to trumpet at him loudly enough that he cringed in pain, his ears ringing in pain. His spirit was broken by the noise, and he darted away, retreating to the safety of his new home. On his return, he deliberately knocked away the log he had used to scale his new home's wall - he did not want to meet any other large creatures within the foreseeable future. XXXXXX Terence watched the synapsid run off, confusion marring his features. What had scared it enough to run away so fast? It soon darted out of sight, though, leaving the tyrannosaur with nothing to look at. Sighing, the tyrant turned his attention back to his exhibit, which he was once again scent marking. As he neared his sister's exhibit, though, he found her staring right at him. For a moment, he was unsure how to react, until she offered him a piece of meat. Accepting it, he calmed down, deciding to enjoy the meal. It had only been a day since the fight with the prehistoric dragon, but Matilda seemed to have grown more accepting of him. The fight with the dragon had, unknown to the staff, established Terence as the dominant of the two siblings, which Matilda, though annoyed, was willing to accept. Though it would take some time to fully sink in, this territory was now Terence's, with Matilda sharing it as a subordinate. The problem about space would not last too much longer, though - the park was already preparing to expand the rex exhibit, in case the team decided to bring back more of them. For now, though, the siblings' issue had been resolved. XXXXX Back in the past, the team is still on the trail of the giant bird. Ambling through the undergrowth, the team watched as the bird effortlessly maneuvered over rocks and logs, easily outpacing them. The sudden increase in rough terrain had left the team winded, much to their own annoyance. "*huff*...IS this..*huff*...bird...*huff*...finished running yet?" questioned Tristan, irked at how far he had to go through such uneven terrain. "You're one to talk," replied Vera, who couldn't wipe the smirk off her face when Tristan scowled at her. "Actually, I think he did stop," noted Nigel. He and Alice, along with Aiden, had come to a halt to observe the resting bird...who had been joined by seven more of its kind. Wondering why the birds were all looking intently at something in the distance, the team circled around them, in order to look at the clearing the avians were staring at. When they finally fond a good view, the object of the bird's attention revealed itself: a herd of large, grey furred animal, ambling by a river. On the banks rested a mix of Thoracosaurus and river dragons not unlike the ones the group had encountered earlier. Oddly enough, there was also a group of tiny dragons not unlike the ones the group had rescued in the Cretaceous, which were busy cleaning the teeth of the river dragons. The team, however, was mostly interested in the herd of mammals...and the pack of bear sized predators sneaking up on them. XXXXXXXXX As the pony sized herbivore marched onwards, blissfully unaware of their stalkers, the team began making preparations to rescue them. Already, Tristan was setting up the portal, while Vera and Alice made themselves busy attempting to distract the predators, so that the herbivores would not scatter from an attack. Nigel and Aiden, meanwhile, attempted to coax the aquatic predators into moving toward the portal. It was slow work - the crocodilians were too sluggish to move, while the dragons did not want to move. Five minutes of coaxing was not enough to change their minds. Six minutes after they had set about trying to prepare the portal, the Barylambda were staring at the portal, unsure what to do. Behind them, their pursuers were trying to find an opening to strike, while Vera and Alice had joined Nigel and Aiden in trying to coax the water dwellers into the light. They didn't really have any luck. All the while, Tristan watched on, noticing with growing concern that the pantodonts were trying to find a way around the portal. Additionally, it looked like their predators were almost ready to strike. Now truly getting worried, Tristan moved to try and bait the herbivores into the portal, only to almost lose his footing due to some loose rocks in front of him. They weren't large rocks, in fact it would be rather easy to throw one of them a good distance. Tristan looked at the rocks. Then he looked up at his teammates, who had placed the reptiles between themselves and the portal. He then looked at the mammals, which were starting to turn around. His attention went back to the rocks, then the reptiles, then to the pantodonts. They might not get another chance at this. With only a moment's hesitation, Tristan picked up one of the rocks and hurled it at the reptiles. It landed on one of the crocodilians' backs, bounced once and came to a stop when it collided with a river dragon's head. The two reptiles hit by the stone turned their attention toward Tristan, who was holding another stone, and had positioned himself at the rear of the pantodont herd. The reptiles, enraged by the eldest Saurus sibling's actions, bellowed at him and charged. Just as Tristan had expected, the mammals were quick to decide it was better to run than to face the reptiles, and immediately turned around again and stampeded into the portal. Following them through, he found himself back at the park, carefully guiding the pantodonts into a holding pen. Just as the last herbivore entered the pen, the mesonychids arrived, unwilling to let the herd slip out of their grip. They were soon followed by the bathorornids and, much to Tristan's surprise, another group of arctocyonids, specifically Prothryptacodon, if he remembered right. The predators quickly broke into a squabbling match, one that was soon joined by the reptiles that wanted his blood. All this was forgotten, however, when a roar sounded from a nearby pen, sending the predators running toward a pen of their own. Turning to the pen, Tristan was surprised to see the female Yutyrannus,who hissed at him until he threw her a piece of bait meat. Shaking off his surprise, Tristan waited a moment, before returning to the portal, as his teammates had not yet come through. He arrived just as Vera was about to walk into the portal. While a collision was avoided, it still made for an awkward situation...until the girl slapped him. "...I deserved that." Then Alice decided to slap him. "...I deserved that, too." Finally, his brother also joined in on the slapping. "OKAY, QUIT IT! DID YOU GUYS HAVE A BETTER IDEA ON HOW TO RESCUE THEM BEFORE THE BARALYAMBDA RAN OFF?!" Nigel merely shrugged at this, reluctantly conceding the point, as did the rest of the team. Aiden, however, had something to say. "Couldn't you at least have told us what you were going to do? Or used some gesture to get the point across?" For once, Tristan had no counter argument, just a sheepish look. "Can we go back now?" asked Vera. "I don't see no reason not to-" Just before she finish her sentence, Alice was interrupted by a juvenile Plesiadapis landing on her head. As the girl tried wobbled, two adults and a juvenile scampered down form the trees, while a poisonous frog and its kin eyed the small primate. Confused by the strange turn of events, but perfectly willing to exploit them, the team swiftly got to work coaxing them tiny creatures into the portal, before finally returning to the present. XXXXXXXXXXX A few hours later, and all of the new residents have been successfully moved into the park. The river dragons had joined the park's crocodilians in one of the ponds, with the little prehistoric dragons occasionally cleaning their teeth. The condylarths, pantodonts, and mesonychids, meanwhile, had been moved into their own forested exhibits, and were enjoying the park's room service. Last, but not least, the primates had moved into a large cluster of fruit trees, and were already getting to know their modern cousins. Unable to keep smiles off their faces, the team watched the various animals enjoy their new lives. "So, what do we go after next?" questioned Alice. Nigel and Tristan shared a knowing glance. "I think we should go after another crocodilian," was Nigel's response. Though separated by quite a distance, Bob, Vera, Sean, and Violet all shuddered when Nigel said that, even if only one of them heard that. XXXXXXXX Next time, the team goes back to Prehistoric Carolina to rescue a land living crocodile. (Shot of the team facing off against a bipedal crocodilian) Whilst also trying to avoid its aquatic cousins (A phytosaur lunges at Marcus) Suzanne, meanwhile, has to care for one of the new primates. (Shot of Suzanne trying to feed the Plesiadapis who fell onto Alice's head) For now, though, Prehistoric Park is doing fine. XXXXXXX AN: Okay, a few things before this chapter ends. One, for those who want to know, Pamela does look a lot like Poison Ivy, more specifically her incarnation from The Batman (awesome cartoon, might still be on Netflix). Two, while her joke is rather rude, realistically, Terence docility is EXTRAORDINARILY unlikely. The park actually did check to see if he had brain damage, because him being so unaggressive toward other animals is pushing some limits, even when you factor in predators not always trying to kill and eat things. Three, even if I decide to include more mystical elements in this story, dragon's teeth cannot create soldiers - this was established as being impossible in Dragonology. Four, I wasn't sure which synonym for laughter to use in this situation, so I apologize if it annoys you. Also, there was an Ice Age going on between the Devonian and Late Permian. THat is why the Ophiacodon knows what snow is, and why Walking With MOnsters had snow in the Dimetrodon episode. And yes, I included a marine dragon. This one is about the size of a Halisaurus. Oh, and I am not shipping Vera with Tristan. I already have plans for who they will end up with. Now, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k signing off!